“Sammy,” Ruthie started, “it wasn’t our fault, we can’t control him or his grief. He made his own choices.”

  I looked at her. “I know, but that doesn’t mean I don’t feel guilty for mine.” I kicked a rock.

  A deep growl sounded from behind us and we all turned to see three tall black hellhounds crouched and ready to attack. The sun glinted off their teeth and the drool dripping down in puddles. Globs of slobber clung to the matted black fur around their snarling mouths.

  “Gluttony is near then.” Death summoned his scythe. “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen her. Let’s give her beasts a good welcome.”

  I smiled and summoned my own weapon. “Just what I needed to get some of this frustration out.”

  An arrow whooshed through the air and took one of the dogs in the eye. The beast yelped and tried to pull it out with his paws, rubbing his face on the ground. I jumped over a pile of rubble and twirled my scythe. The blade sliced through its neck, putting the creature out of its misery.

  One leapt towards me and my blade met it midair. I followed through with my strike and cut it in half. The two pieces fell to the ground and disappeared. I spun to face the laughter that I heard. Last time I’d met Gluttony, she’d killed Pete’s grandfather. I had a slight scar on my leg from her barbed whip.

  “I hear you out there.” My gaze swept across the land. The yelp followed by a thump told me the third hellhound was dead.

  She arrived in a swirl of blue and black. She blew me a kiss as she summoned her whip. “I was hoping I’d get the chance to fight you again, but I didn’t want to come alone. Two of you against me almost had me at a challenge. Six against one is hardly fair.” She held her hand out and Pride appeared.

  “Hello again, Sammy, Kaleb, Ruthie. Glad to see you guys again.” He smiled and summoned a sword. “I don’t think I got the pleasure of fighting you last time. Envy took all that fun away from me.”

  He launched at me and his sword clanged against my scythe. I shoved him away and stepped back, preparing for his next attack. I heard a whip snap somewhere behind me, but Gluttony wasn’t my concern, Pride was.

  Pete stepped to my side. “You know the plan.”

  We just needed things to work so Dad could get a hold of both Sins at the same time. I nodded and rushed forward. I swung my scythe, aiming the blade for Pride’s knees and as I expected he jumped over it.

  Pete’s arrow caught the Sin in the chest with a wet slice. I spun around to see the back of the arrow sticking out of Pride’s back. Pete raised his bow again and let loose an arrow. Pride dodged it and I sliced across his back at the same moment that he moved.

  He spun around and snarled at me. He struck downward with his sword and I jumped backward to avoid it.

  “Left.” Pete called over.

  I swung my scythe to move Pride to the left. Another arrow whizzed by Pride’s ear, making him step to the left again.

  After a dance of Pride attacking me, and Pete and I driving him next to Gluttony, the two Sins bumped shoulders with each other.

  Dad grabbed the two by their hair and disappeared. I didn’t know if he would need our help to lock them away or not, but I did know that he was much more of a bad-ass than I originally thought.

  I went to Ruthie’s side and looked at the whip mark across her stomach. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded and touched the blood. “Yeah, it’ll heal up in a couple days. No need to worry about it.”

  Aeron knelt by us. “It’s not bad, not deep, so she’s right, it’ll heal quickly. She’s better at healing than we are.”

  “Oh sure, angels get the super powers and we don’t.” I rolled my eyes. “That takes two down, but not the one we wanted.”

  Dad reappeared and he crossed his arms. “Pride and Gluttony are locked away. That makes four out of seven. We can go after Sloth and Envy now or we can free another horseman and hope that locking two more Sins away is enough to keep Lucile busy.”

  “We need to free Famine.” Aeron stood. “With food supplies going back up the city will be less likely to go to war. The world can start recovering again.”

  I stood up when I heard rubble shift nearby. My gaze moved over every shadow and every dip in the landscape. The others were silent and I could hear the beating of my heart. Someone was out there, but the energy didn’t feel like a Sin or a demon. It was something I couldn’t place. Nothing moved and dad put his hand on my shoulder. “It’s nothing.”

  I kept looking around to see if anything popped up. I don’t know if I was expecting a clown to pop up and say boo or what, but I knew there was something out there. Watching us. Ruthie touched my arm. “I felt it out there too, but I don’t know what it was, so let’s go.”

  I shook my head. “I’m going to go check it out.”

  “Sammy, it’s nothing.” He motioned for me to join the guys who had moved forward without us.

  I sighed and followed them with Ruthie by my side. I couldn’t ignore the itching feeling on my back that warned me of danger.

  I summoned my scythe as we walked and stuck close to Ruthie. All of us were silent as we walked towards the remains of the dorms. I didn’t know what we expected to find there and now Pride and Envy were locked up. I doubted the other Sins would attack us so soon.

  “What are we doing?” I asked to break the silence.

  “We’re just looking around. We still have the rest of the day left, there’s no use going back to Death’s realm right now.” Aeron looked over his shoulder.

  “So you just want to wander around aimlessly?” I climbed over a fallen beam.

  Pete turned around and took a few steps backwards. “There’s not a whole lot else we can do right now. Unless you want another sparring match.”

  I wrinkled my nose. “Not really.” I looked around at the crumbed buildings. The first semester here, the yards between the dorms had been filled with people playing hacky sack, a man that sat under a tree playing guitar and trying to swoon the ladies, and people studying as they walked. Now the rubble claimed everything. Emptiness where there used to be so much life.

  Brick remains crashed down and we turned around to see a new pile by one of the beam skeletons of the dorms. I paused and tightened my hand on the scythe. Nothing else moved. My heartbeat recovered from the scare of the noise, but my mind was still waiting for something to show up. I waited for a walking dead, or a demon, or something to pop up. Even though Death was back, I still feared that a walking dead was still a possibility.

  “Clear.” Pete’s voice carried on the wind a little bit. I turned around to see him standing on a cross beam that two vertical beams held up. He held on to one, his hand covering his eyes to block out the sun. His head turned slightly as he followed the line of the horizon. “Still nothing.”

  It was a comforting conclusion, but I swore I felt something out there. Goose bumps marched up my skin and I rubbed my arms. Whatever was out there wasn’t human and was able to hide from us. My mind turned to how Lust managed to shield us while we were at the party so that no one was able to find us.

  It was possible that a Sin was following us, or maybe just another high-class demon. Either way, we weren’t alone on the school grounds. I turned around and I heard the sound of coins clinking together. I jumped back around, ready to fight, but the sound of coins grew further away, fading until there was nothing but silence remaining.

  Ruthie came up beside me. “What did you hear?”

  “Greed.” I let my Scythe disappear. “I could hear the coins jingling, like I did in Hell.”

  “She’s a sly one.” Death said. “It’s rare that she’d mess up and let you know she was here.”

  I shook my head. “It wasn’t her energy I felt at first. There was another one, not demon nor Sin. I don’t know how to explain it.”

  “But you heard Greed’s coins?” Pete asked.

  “I did, but I agree with Dad, if she didn’t want us to know she was following us, then she would have taken more precaution. I think she wanted us to know that she was following us.”

  “What advantage would that give her? Now we know that she’ll run back to Lucile and let her know what we are planning.” Ruthie looked to Aeron.

  “I don’t have an answer for that one, but it lets us know that we can change our strategy. Let’s go back to Death’s realm and talk about a trip to Hell.” Aeron crossed his arms. “That way no enemy can overhear us talking.”

  There was a sound of agreement from every one. I closed my eyes and imagined where we were going, and focused on sending myself and my energy there. When I opened my eyes we were standing in front of Death’s house.

  “We need four sacrifices, two to get in two to get out.” I didn’t wait until someone else spoke up. “They know that we’re coming, but I think they’ll expect us to divide our forces up like we did before. When Sloth almost killed Pete.”

  “So what are you suggesting?” Aeron sat on the ground. “Ruthie needs to go to Hell with you.”

  “No, I don’t. I can take myself there if she’s in trouble. It’s a loophole and it’s one that I plan on taking advantage of. That was the plan when she went to Hell with Zachariah.”

  I nodded. “No need to take more in than we have to.”

  “The rest of you will stay here and wait for us to return.” Death crossed his arms. “You’re safe here and it’ll make sure that you don’t face Sloth, Greed, or Envy alone.”

  The three biggest Sins. I looked at Pete and I knew I didn’t want to return from Hell to him being on his deathbed again. My gaze slid to Ruthie and my heart ached at the idea of her dying too. I closed my eyes. “We’re almost done. We only have three more horsemen to save.”

  “Lucile needs to be locked up.” Kaleb looked at all of us. “We can’t let her continue to get out of Hell and try to cause an apocalypse every time she throws a hissy fit about something.”

  “You’re talking about sealing all of Hell.” Death dropped his arms and met Kaleb’s glare. “That’s nearly an impossible task, it’d take all four horsemen creating the seal at the same time without being interrupted.”

  “But it is possible.” Kaleb confirmed. “Then I think that needs to be our ultimate goal after this. To make sure that she’s sealed up. When was the last time that was done?”

  “I don’t know. I don’t know if it has been. If it was, it was many generations ago.” Death walked towards the house. “We’ll talk to the other horsemen when they are free and see what they’d like to do.”

  Even to me it sounded like he was blowing Kaleb off. None of us followed Death into the house. The door to the house clicked shut. Kaleb looked at me. “You need to talk to him and convince him that it’s possible and that it’s the best option.”

  “I feel like maybe there’s more to it than just sealing Hell up. Maybe it requires a sacrifice or two.”

  “Or more.” Ruthie crossed her arms. “We don’t know if that’s the right move or not. If that is to be Lucile’s fate then why hasn’t Michael or someone put that out there as an option?”

  “Michael thinks she needs to be free in order to keep the balance. So there’s no use asking him for advice.”

  And yet the archangel had been willing to lend one of his own to help us seal up the Sins. I tapped my thumb against my leg. “I’ll talk to him, but I’m not going to promise anything.”

  “That’s all I ask, by the time we get everything else taken care of, maybe his mind will have changed. I just think that if he hears it from his daughter then he might consider it a little more.”

  Aeron stood and dusted himself off. “I’m going to take a walk to clear my head. I’ll be back soon.”

  “I think I’m going to go down to the stables.” I turned away from the group. I wanted a clear head when I went to Hell. I didn’t want to worry about convincing my father that Lucile needed to be bound to Hell. I wanted to free the horsemen, return order back to the world, and be normal. Maybe settle down and find a life with someone that I loved after I finished school, if that was even an option. I could take over as Death when dad was ready to retire and once I finished living my human life.

  I heard running footsteps and I didn’t look back to see who was joining me. “Do you want company?” Pete caught up to me.

  “Sure, why not.” I was going to the horses to be alone, but at least it was Pete and not Kaleb who wanted to tag along.

  He walked with me in silence, but it wasn’t a forced awkward silence. It was filled with the comfort of two people who just wanted the presence of another. It was something I only had with Pete or Ruthie. I wasn’t this comfortable with the others. Not yet.

  We rounded the hill and walked down to the stables. The white horse whinnied and galloped around the corral, kicking her back legs.

  “I don’t think she likes me.” Pete stopped further away from the fence.

  I kept going. “Don’t take it personally, she doesn’t seem to like anyone except my father.”

  The horse snorted at me and then ran to the pasture. I motioned for Pete to follow me. He took a few hesitant steps before he found his confidence and strolled to me. I climbed up on the fence to watch her run around the pasture.

  “Beautiful creatures, aren’t they?” He climbed up next to me. “I could watch them for hours.”

  “I could too. She makes me feel at peace. When I’m with her I just feel like everything else melts away and I can breathe again for a little while.” I balanced myself on the fence with my hands. “Sometimes I just need to forget about all the crazy around.”

  He sighed. “We’ve been through a lot, haven’t we?”

  “Too much for only being eighteen. Well, me anyways.” I chuckled and nudged him. “Old man.”

  “You’ll see, I’m considered young in this world.” He motioned to the horse. “She’s as old as the human race itself, passed from generation to generation and look how young she acts.”

  I watched her jump and kick around the field. “Have you ever wondered what you were meant for or who you were?”

  “I know what I’m meant for, but I didn’t know who I was. For a long time I was simply Pestilence’s son, the boy who would take over. It took me awhile to learn that I was Pete. I may be Pestilence’s son, but I was able to form my own thoughts, my own opinion and follow my own heart. You’ll learn that too.” He glanced at me. “You’re already starting to. Aren’t you?”

  I was starting to learn it, but there was a lot I was still confused on. He was right though; I would figure it out. I had a lifetime to do such. The horse had already given me hope instead of dread about becoming Death. It wasn’t a title I was sure I wanted, but it would become a part of me, because it was something I couldn’t change.

  “You need to make sure you come back.” Pete wrapped an arm around me. “I don’t want to lose you to Lucile or any of her demons.”

  I leaned my head against his shoulder. “Dad will be with me, and if it comes down to it, Ruthie. They won’t let anything happen to me.”

  “She loves you, you know. She has since you became her charge.” He didn’t look at me. “Her biggest fear was that she’d be reassigned because angels aren’t supposed to feel that for their charge.”

  I frowned. “Of course she loves me, we’re friends. We’ve literally been through Hell and back.”

  He snorted. “Not just friends. Do you recall a friend you had back in high school?”

  “I didn’t have many, but there was one girl. She was such trouble, my mother hated her, but she was good for me.” I didn’t know why he was getting into this, maybe he was just trying to back pedal from what he’d said about Ruthie. “She was really my only friend.”

  “Why do you think she was good for you?”

  “Because she was such a party person. Gosh, she’d gotten into everything she could in high school. Her and some others, they’d steal her parents booze and have what they called pirate parties. They’d dress up and have this grand old time of drinking and pretending they were pirates.” I smiled. “I’d never gone, of course, because my mother would never let me over there because she knew what went on. I learned from it all though. I saw how it tore her family apart and how it changed her as a person.” An ache in my heart formed and I could feel tears forming in my eyes. I’d fallen in love with who she was as a person, it hadn’t mattered that she was female. I knew things wouldn’t happen between us, but I had fallen in love with her.

  “What happened to her?”

  “She moved one day, overseas, and that was the last I heard from her. Her parents had finally woken up to see what kind of trouble she was and their solution was to move and cut her off from her life here.” I studied the way that the grass split between dead and alive. The green spikes leaned toward the pasture while the brown shriveled blades fell towards the corral. “My mom had threatened to do that to me. To pick me up and move me. It’s why I had so few friends, I knew she’d go through with it.”

  “That was Ruthie, teaching you lessons you needed to learn. That was before she knew you were the daughter of Death. She disappeared because she put you on the right track. It wasn’t until college that you needed her again and there she was. Waiting for you. I’m wondering what trouble you would have gotten into if there hadn’t been an apocalypse.”

  I snorted. “I’d probably have gotten really drunk at a party and slept with Lust.” I shook my head. “I’m glad she’s back. She filled a hole in my heart.”

  He turned around and jumped off the fence. “Come on, let’s get back.”

  I got off the fence and followed him back to the house. Ruthie, Aeron and Kaleb were still outside. In the window, I could see the reflection of my dad walking back and forth.

  “Why are you guys still standing out here?” I walked to the door.

  “Your dad locked us out.” Kaleb rolled his eyes. “Clearly, I’ve upset him.”

  “Oh really? What gave you that idea?” I put as much sarcasm as I could muster into the words. I twisted the knob and the door swung open for me. I walked in and let the door close behind me.

  “Are you ready, Sammy?” He turned to me and unfolded his arms. “Is there a particular gateway you’d like to use?”